Menu as Forethought

I did 5 days worth of grocery shopping on Saturday. I planned some dishes, made a list, and hit the store. I figure the fewer times I am in the store, the less temptation there will be. More on that later...

I used to buy veggies with the intention of eating them and ending up throwing them away. Now, they are what I eat, so there is no throwing away! I made some great meatless, cheese-less chili, some homemade hummus that rocked for football watching, and finally found the Kiva Flatbread which is great with hummus. Tonight I made stuffed mushrooms that were excellent - filled with mushroom stems, shallot, diced red pepper, garlic, fresh basil, and Japanese-style breadcrumbs called Panko made from whole wheat flour. It's probably a bit more involved in terms of cooking than I would like, but the result was great.

I had to buy some cat food today and I had to go to a different grocery store to buy it. In my regular grocery I know the aisles to avoid. I found the cat food, was on my way to the register and hit the candy isle. I wanted some sugar. Before I knew it, Twizzlers were in my hand, paid for, in my bag and then in my mouth. It is just that easy to just enter an alternate universe where nothing you are trying to do exists, rules don't apply, and you do as you please.

Well, the sugar fix was wonderful, but the calories were awful. Luckily, eating lots of veggies means you don't have to count calories or deal cards to yourself with points, or any of that other stuff. Did I mention I had a soy latte this week?

The really hard thing about making these changes is losing your old friends - cheese, fries, ice cream, eggs, pizza, egg rolls, who were always there to comfort me, help me through my day, and never leave. In fact they still sit perched on my hips...

What I have to constantly remind myself of is that those foods are NOT my friends - they are impostors. My real friends are the people I see every day, who I text, IM, Facebook, Tweet, and phone - who want me around for a long, long time.

I'll get there, but I think it is important to be real about the roadblocks and what I learn. I realize that other food programs allow all things in moderation - but for me moderation is a moving target. So for now, I need to walk (er, eat) the straight and narrow. The good Dr. Esselstyn reminds us that "just a little" may as well be a truckload when your heart it at stake. Undoing damage takes time. That's what I gotta give it.

I am currently in my 4th week of this project. I looked back over my food diary and saw my progress! I started out with lots of X's for no-foods and too few check marks for yes-foods. Now I go whole days without an X! Of course, today was not that day - damn you Twizzlers!!!

I fear two things.
1. that I will get complacent and little slips will turn into more frequent slips and the whole thing will unravel. That's why I keep track of the X's and review daily. If I keep it square in front of me, I won't be as likely to enter that alternate universe where I forget what I am doing.
2. that I will get bored with what I know how to fix or am willing to fix and will lose my drive to do this. Although Jared ate nothing but Subway sandwiches, so I could just eat a regimented menu.

Onward
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